There were lots of half eaten Dutchman pipe leaves scattered along the pathway of my garden yesterday, which only meant one thing. I had some big polydamas caterpillars up above. Looking up I spotted seven polydamas swallowtail caterpillars hidden deep within the Dutchman pipe vines. I found the babies a few weeks ago and then they vanished. I was so happy to see that they are still there, much bigger. They look to be either in their last instar or very close. So, to enjoy the final stages, I cut some of the vine and put it in the butterfly house along with a handfull of the caterpillars.

This morning there were three of them clinging onto the same vine, while the other two found some big green leaves to munch. The caterpillar can grow up to 2.1″ in length before creating their girdle.

The link below will direct you to my page about the polydamas swallowtail butterfly for more information and photographs.